There are many reasons to be grateful to be alive, and owning this brand new facsimile edition of artist Jim Woodring's Moleskine sketchbooks is as good as any.

Jim Woodring is rarely without a pocket-sized Moleskine sketchbook, in which he captures character studies, sight gags, emblems, dream motifs, and other fugitive impressions. He has filled at least one a month for the past 8 years. Problematic collects random images from these sketchbooks from 2004 – 2012. The resulting book is, in Woodring’s words, "an idea battery loaded with shorthand references to long game insights." The exhibition includes drawings, notes, and related ephemera from the collection, resulting in revealing insight into the artist’s creative process.

A longtime Seattle resident, Jim Woodring's idiosyncratic approach to art and storytelling has made him an influential figure in the fields of fine art and alternative comix. His work has been exhibited worldwide and published in several popular volumes by Fantagraphics Books, including The Frank Book, Seeing Things, Weathercraft, and Congress of the Animals.

3 Responses to “Excerpt from Jim Woodring's Problematic sketchbook: "an idea battery loaded with shorthand references to long game insights"”

Want. I love the idea of going up to some random person on the street, whipping this out, opening to a random page and saying, “OK, do you think that I should go with this, or”–flipping to another random drawing–“this?” Then look them in the eye, feign horror, and put the book away hurriedly, stammering, “I-I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else… you… you should really forget that you saw that. Or me.” Then walk rapidly away.